Chapter 14

Out of Merde

As Christine walked across the road to the cluster of trees near the corner vendor Erik had procured the paper from, she heard the talk of someone or something taking several days Paris paper's and leaving much more money then they were worth while the vendor was setting up his stand for the day this morning. She smiled yet again at that, Erik strikes again, she thought as she walked into the trees and out of the small town she had spent a week in and still had no idea where she was. This was the same way they entered the town, she knew she had to get to cover before Erik would join her, so this seemed the only logical way to go.

"Mademoiselle, has no one ever told you it is not safe to walk through the woods alone, no telling when someone might want to grab you!" Erik said this as he grabbed her from behind, she screamed, he placed his hand lightly over her mouth to silence her. She closed her eyes and sank against him, shaking at the start he gave her. He waited for her to steady herself before he let her free. That brief contact sent shivers up her spine, she took a bit to recover from that.

"Erik, you scared me half to death, don't ever do that. I have been so deep in thought of what Raoul could do if he gets well and goes back on the warpath for our blood; I have been very edgy lately with this possibility. You are just not worried enough sometimes, Erik. You know, while you are amazingly agile and intelligent, you are still a man, not a phantom or ghost, and you can be hurt, or killed. I don't want that to happen to you because you are too sure of yourself when you really should not be right now."

"Christine, don't worry about me, I am always watching what is going on, it doesn't stop even in sleep, one eye is open. I will not let anything hurt you, or me; it would not be possible anymore. I am far too protective of our relationship to give in to so foolish a folly. That is my resolve; I live it and shall not die because of it."

"It shall only be so through His grace, you know that don't you Erik?"

"Ahhh, that faith thing again. I have not decided my final thoughts on that whole issue, I believe that there is some guide there, helping when asked, and truly needed, but whether faith has it right, I'm not too sure. The whole Grace and Beatitudes and Indulgences, if you have enough money, you can buy your way to heaven through them, that is what I presume to take issue to, I believe that humans have themselves messed it up, God needs to straighten it out."

"That is a bit flippant, is it not? Erik, it is not up to us to critique our religion, it is there to guide us, not to be graded. We should learn from those mistakes, not judge by them. The things you mentioned, they are to comfort humans, they are a form of bridge between Him and us. Faith is where we fine a conscience and respect for human life and dignity! Even you have that, you are saddened by the deaths at the opera house, and you don't want to kill Raoul, so you see, your soul still recognizes faith."

"Perhaps, my dear. Let us correct our mistake then and go forth to our destiny, shall we?"

"Ok, then tell me, where are we headed, still to Paris? Or have you come up with some way to solve our problems without stepping foot in the city again? What is the plan?"

"We are to catch the 512 train to Paris, by the way, we are in Merde, in case you were wondering where we have been, that is the name of this city."

Christine couldn't help but laugh at that; she was so surprised that any place would purposely pick a name like that, she could not believe him; "Surely you jest, there is no way they called this town Merde. I never heard of it. Not a very high opinion of themselves, have they?"

"That is what they named it, I am sure there is a story there, but we are not going to find it today, sorry Mademoiselle. We are north of Paris, about 95 kilometers. It is a warmer day this afternoon, so the travel in the baggage compartment should not be quite so cold this time. Are you up to this, Christine, cause if you are not, we can walk the road and try to make it back sometime before Raoul resolves to either continue looking for you or to die. The choice is yours, my dear."

"I believe it is a fine afternoon to sit in hay and freeze while the luggage car tosses us about shamelessly. I will, after all have the favor of your company, no?"

"Absolutely correct, I was just saying the same thing to myself; with you, even the smell of sour hay is bearable. When we return to Paris, I shall be more then happy to discard this outfit which I have been trying to keep clean and presentable since our arrival in Merde."

They arrived to the train station and went beyond about an eighth of a kilometer south, so they could get on the train while it was moving but not too fast.

"Christine, there is our train, get ready; this is a short stop before travel to Paris. There is another train that goes to the south side of Paris, that is the busy one; this one is not busy this time of day…" Christine looked at him, wondering how he suddenly knew so much, her look showed her curiosity, so Erik decided to elaborate; "I heard the man at the counter telling one of the passengers this. It seems this train stops in the north end of Paris, so that it can change conductors and come back north. I don't know exactly how far, but that is a mute point. See, it picked up only two passengers, it shall be moving shortly, are you ready?"

Christine looked at Erik and shook her head, she really was not, this seemed so monumental after being ill so short a time ago, she was hoping she didn't miss the train and get left behind. Erik would not let that happen, though, so she relaxed and prepared for the expenditure of energy. Closing her eyes to prepare, she listened carefully to what Erik said;

"It is ready to move now, let us back away a bit, so we are not spotted, I shall tell you when we should go up to the tracks."

They accomplished the tenuous task of entering the train car uneventfully, Erik had planned just perfectly when the train would still be slow enough to board with ease, without witnesses to see them board. There was considerably less luggage in the car then there was on the trip out of Paris. Christine found a spot on the floor or the train car and sat down; Erik paced back and forth checking to ensure no one noticed their entrance on the train. When he was satisfied that they were safe, he came over and joined Christine on the floor. She was gathering the hay for a soft place to lay back and rest for a bit. This train traveled rather slowly, it would be a bit before they would have to jump from the train.

"So this is all we could find to cushion us from the hard floor this time? Let me see, I don't want you to be bruised from the hard floor jarring you around." Erik searched around for a bit and managed to find a soft package that appeared to be batting for furniture, he took the package and placed it behind Christine. She was quick to be sure there was enough left for Erik. Naturally that was a new experience for Erik too, and he had to comment on the touching nature of that small gesture. "Thank you Christine, that was very considerate of you, my lady. You are a constant surprise and delight to me. People really do treat one another like that, no one ever bothered to treat me with that consideration before. You are a most precious soul."

"Really, no one has ever cared for your comforts, Erik, never? Did not your mother even do that for you?"

"No, she would not even let me kiss her. I was not allowed to express love to her in any way; she was too repulsed by me for that. I read of kindness between human beings, never was I shown those things."

They talked on about their childhood, in an effort for Erik to understand why Raoul was the way he was about Christine, she told Erik of how her father used to tell them stories and play for them songs on his violin. Erik listened and dreamed of him being Raoul, knowing her father, delighting in her happy and wonton abandon of youth. He felt that she was so rare a soul; he could understand why Raoul was so frantic for her love. He didn't feel sorry for Raoul, though, he had earned this love, Raoul could go and earn his own love, there were plenty out there that would swoon for him, he didn't need Erik's Christine. More's the pity he didn't get that the first time he visited her and was locked away from her. He would now lose his ability to find love anywhere when Erik was done with him.